Abstract

For a maximal torus in a quasi-split semi-simple simply-connected group over a local field of characteristic $0$,
Langlands and Shelstad constructed a
cohomological invariant called the splitting invariant, which is an important
component of their endoscopic transfer factors. We study this invariant in the
case of a split real group and prove a
decomposition theorem which expresses this invariant for a general torus as a product of the corresponding
invariants for simple tori. We also show how this reduction formula allows for the comparison of splitting invariants
between different tori in the given real group.